Colour matching system

Abstract

A system for, and method of, color matching and / or identifying color parameters of articles such as teeth, textiles, paints, dyes, car body repairs, picture restoration, metals and gems and for use in the cosmetics industry. The system comprises means for taking a colored image of an object, means for relaying the colored image to a place remote from where the image of the object was taken, means for analysing color values of the image and means for converting the color values into parameters from which the original color of the object can be reconstituted or color parameters may be cross-referenced and / or recorded over time.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for, and method of, colour matching, for particular, but not exclusive, use in the colour matching of articles such as teeth, textiles, paints, dyes, car body repairs, picture restoration and in the cosmetics industry. In addition, the present invention relates to a system for, and method of, colour identification, for particular, but not exclusive, use in the colour identification of the colours of precious metals, gems and stones and for use in the printing and security industries.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002] It is known from the prior art to colour match a variety of objects simply by eye and to compare the colour with a reference colour guide. The colour guide is usually held in proximity to the test object for a direct comparison. This is a purely subjective evaluation and can lead to a colour mismatch since one person's assessment may differ from another's. Moreover, the perception of colour is dependent on a number of fact...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020] Preferably, the camera is provided with cross-polarised filtration. Typically this is achieved by a pair of cross-polarised filters, preferably the filters are grey so as provide a minimal colour temperature shift whilst simultaneously providing good transmission. The effect of cross-polarised photography is to control reflections, lustre and to cut out glare.

[0076] It will be understood that the system may also be used to capture images of a part of a body and to relay this information to a health care professional remote from the patient so that a diagnosis can be made without the patient needing to be physically present. It is envisaged that the system of the present invention may also be used for diagnosing dermatological lesions and other such conditions where the physical appearance and colour of an organ is a relevant diagnostic factor.

Problems solved by technology

This is a purely subjective evaluation and can lead to a colour mismatch since one person's assessment may differ from another's.

Alternatively, a smooth shiny object can reflect light from its surface leading to bright spots similar colour distortions.

However, it is difficult to critically assess highly reflective surfaces such as the enamel of teeth.

This can be problematic because tooth colour is affected not only by ambient light colour / intensity in the surgery i.e. fluorescent or natural light, but also by the surrounding colour of the patient's own clothing or make-up / complexion.

It will be appreciated this process often results in unacceptable levels of colour mismatching so that a second or replacement dental prosthesis needs to be constructed at a substantial cost and inconvenience to the patient, dental professional and dental prosthesis manufacturer.

The problem with this method is that it does not completely eliminate variations in ambient lighting conditions.

The problem with this method is that the equipment can be bulky and that the colour in the photograph may be distorted and / or misrepresented through the process of developing and producing the photograph.

In addition, the flash from the camera causes high levels of reflection from the tooth surface.

The problem with this method is that the equipment can be bulky and that the colour in the video may not be accurate.

Moreover, the video cameras are intra-oral and so careful hygiene procedures have to be adopted which can be time consuming and may not even be completely effective.

The problem with this is that it can be expensive, time consuming, and it is not independent of ambient lighting conditions.

None of the prior art methods are capable of capturing an exact colour image of a natural tooth.

Natural teeth are translucent on their surface, the transparencies of dentine and enamel are difficult to correct for when representing the colour of a tooth.

All of these factors contribute to the difficulty in accurately capturing a colour image of a tooth.

A problem not addressed by any of the prior art methods is the subjective colour assessment which the dental laboratory technician has to make when given a recipe or image to work to, so as to construct the dental prosthesis.

Some methods have made improvements in the standardisation of assessing the colour of the patient's tooth in the first instance, but problems remain with human errors in constructing and colour matching the prosthesis to a recipe.

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